It's got to be today! We really are due for a rebate.Canadian Dollar sits above the American at $1.027 U.S.Why a rebate?Well, when we were just 1% below the American dollar, our OOCSGS was adding a 2.9% surcharge.Fair is fair...Comments invited and encouraged (you can even do so confidentially).

Friday, 25 February 2011

Our OOCSGS charged us when the dollar was just a penny under the U.S. dollar, for sure we can expect a rebate now that the dollar is $1.0192, right?! Using their previous conversion factor, we should be getting a rebate worth over 5%!

Wednesday, 23 February 2011

Just got an update from Jen, one of our old (but she's young) fusing customers, who's run away.

Apparently living in the centre of the universe wasn't good enough for her, so she up and left us all for British Columbia.Aside from letting others whoo her here that she's doing well, I thought it proper to give her a plug for her website and her work- below is a screen grab from her site urbanfusions.ca.

Thursday, 17 February 2011

Been reading a lot of stories in the papers lately. Oh, you know, the ones where we keep hearing how our loonie may be at par, but our prices aren't. Well, it's true. All you have to do is call/email any of our American competitors to see. Stuff like the Taurus 3 bandsaw I can actually buy at retail in Buffalo cheaper than I can buy it wholesale from our One and Only Canadian Stained Glass Supplier just down the street. As a matter of fact, rather than see prices drop to accomodate the increased value in the Canadian Dollar, we just got a whole new set of pricesheets, with price increases of almost every item we sell averaging greater than 6%. Another very exciting note tho'-a couple of months ago, our OOCSGS was adding a 2.9% surcharge on all goods sold to us to cover the lower Canadian Dollar which was then at 99.5 cents. That means that with our dollar now at $1.015, we should expect a rebate of 4%.Yippee!

We just raised our course tuitions by a few dollars after leaving them unchanged for years.

While we haven't heard any complaints, I thought we'd post this comparative for fun...

Kelly Glass Studio and GalleryPatti Kelly imparts her glass knowledge—amassed over 30 years—to cozy group over eight weeks: “The studio is open to four students at a time; this makes it possible to give the necessary amount of one-on-one attention,” she says. This is where to go if your birdhouse requires its own rose window; Kelly teaches lead techniques used on long-lasting outdoor projects. 368 E 8th St between Aves C and D (212-677-9480,kellyglassstudio.net). Thu 6–9pm, classes begin Jan 13; $535.Manhattan Stained GlassOver the course of eight weeks, wannabe artisans will learn the ins and outs of cutting glass, tool maintenance and framing while using the copper-foil technique to work on a 75-piece window. “This is a challenging course. I like to teach my students as if I’m preparing them to work for me in the studio,” says owner and instructor Tommy Giambusso. Each student’s project is the same, but they’ll be able to select their own colors.79 Leonard St between Broadway and Church St (646-613-1420, manhattanstainedglass.com, 646-613-1420). 2011 schedule released in Jan; $1,000.Urban GlassIt’s up to you to design a glass pane or get ambitious with a larger project in this nine-person copper-foil class; instructor Joseph Cavalieri focuses on creativity in between glass cutting and discussions on light and color. Past students have made lamp shades and ornaments during the eight-week course. 647 Fulton St between Ashland and Rockwell Pls, Fort Greene, Brooklyn (718-625-3685, urbanglass.org). Sat noon–3pm, classes begin Jan 15; $495.

Tuesday, 15 February 2011

1) This month's Introduction to Fusing (includes several hours of hands-on and access to our large kiln) still has a couple of spaces if you're free- Sat. Feb, 19 from 10am to 4pm. Call the store for more details.

2) We like to show off some of our success stories here so, take look at a few students and their finished work:

Magda

Mike

3) Fresh off Tina's table:

4) and for putting up with this painfully lame blog entry, check out this video on how opal(escent) glass is made;

Sunday, 13 February 2011

A Tiffany Studios stained-glass window created around the turn of the 20th century for a church in Duluth, Minnesota is up for auction. The window is the top lot among a variety of stained glass windows, Tiffany lamps and other pieces being sold at Morphy Auctions' sale of fine and decorative art.The Cedar Tree window measures 72 inches by 43 inches. The garden scene includes several other trees, as well as ivy, vines and red roses in full bloom around the base and up the sides of two massive columns. A stone path meanders toward an urn-topped wall. The overall effect is painterly, a tranquil scene rendered in delicately colored glass rather than oil paints."This window has been in the consignor's private collection for more than 40 years, so it's fresh to the market and will surprise many of today's collectors of Tiffany art glass," said MorphyAuctions' CEO, Dan Morphy. The window is unsigned but in the 1980s, Dr. Egon Neustadt, an expert on Tiffany, confirmed its authenticity. The late Dr. Neustadt's letter of authenticity accompanies the window, which is estimated to sell for $150,000-$250,000.

Tuesday, 8 February 2011

Originally discovered by the Tiffany Studios in the early 20th century, Ring Mottles are a special effect of localized, heat-treated opacification and crystal-growth dynamics. Louis Comfort Tiffany was searching for glass containing realistic natural effects to express his representational imagery with minimal use of painting. He couldn't have been happier than when he saw the first accidentally formed Ring Mottles, and he found myriad uses for them!

After the closure of the Tiffany Furnaces in Corona, New York in 1931, Ring Mottles were thought to be lost to the stained glass industry. In the mid '70s, Uroboros' founder Eric Lovell successfully reproduced them and brought them back into the stained glass marketplace. Since then, like in Tiffany's day, Ring Mottles have been used for realistic-looking shadows, sunspots on leaves or ground, or to create small background repeats of larger foreground pieces. Cut lines that follow individual rings can produce the best shadowed effect. An example is the use of green mottled areas in the background areas behind individually cut green leaves.Another is the use of flower-colored mottles in the background of larger flower pieces. In large pieces, mottles may be used in groups or cut in half to break up the circular images and achieve a single band through each piece.Ring Mottles are also used in contemporary works when nonlinear or abstract color patterns are desired. Typical locations might be in border row pieces, background areas around a beveled interior, or in flat panels in lamps.Bullseye stopped producing mottles several years ago, pretty well leaving Uroboros to carry the torch alone.And carry it they seem to do with great effect. We carry as much of their mottles as possible, as well as the rest of their line, and are glad to show it off when you come in. We also have several reference books such as Alastair Duncan's Lamps of Tiffany that can show you to great effect why you might want to consider ring mottles in a project.

Sunday, 6 February 2011

This funnily, is one of the most successful sales we've ever had. It's on for the entire month of February. Our Hamburger Is Your Steak Sale is where the staff dig into all the deep storage rooms at FIG and pull out any old, slow moving, over-abundant or even damaged packaged stock and put it on sale at a fraction of the regular price. Heck, Mikey even went into his own toolbox, and put out slightly used tools from the days when we had staff that just opened up a new tool because they couldn't find their old one!We've got German and Japanese groziers (up to $50/each new) virtually new for $9.00!Fan Out Pattern shears- reg- $39.99, clear-out price of $10.00!3/4" grinding heads at $16! Copper foil at $1.50!Strip and circle cutters at $29! And just strip cutters at $20.Replacement kiln coils. Bandsaw blades. Glass cutters!And there will be lots more, and there'll be and sorts of different stuff showing up throughout the month so keep coming back.Mikey's putting out gallons and quarts of chemicals such as Hydrocal and patinas and fluxes on Tuesday, and some big surprises further on in the month (rumour has it, there's some bandsaws, grinders and even ringsaws).All sales available only for in-store shopping...